1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention provides a chill assembly for chilling a molten material during formation of a part.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various related art assemblies disclose a chill for chilling, or quenching, a part during formation. These assemblies include a first platen driven by a lift to raise and lower the first platen. A mold package is positioned underneath the first platen and a liquid metal or other molten material is introduced into the package to form the part. The material is injected into the package and takes the form of the part. A chill extending from the first platen is brought into contact with the mold package and the liquid metal or molten material
Related art assemblies generally disclose the chill as a rod extending the length of the first platen or the length of the mold package. The chill contacts the molten material in the mold package and begins to quench the molten material to form the part. The quenching of the part improves the properties of the part in the areas surrounding the chill.
However, when the molten material is chilled, the part shrinks inward from the ends toward a center of the part. These various assemblies do not allow for movement of the chills with the shrinkage of the part during cooling. Since the rod is fixed to the first platen, the chill becomes wet with the liquid metal. By wet it is meant that the chill becomes fixed to the part and must be removed from the first platen and travels with the part until it can be removed. This causes the process of forming the part to be very slow since the chill cannot be collected until after the part has finished processing. Alternately, these related art assemblies require that multiple chills be available to reattach to the first platen for the next successive part, while the previous chill is fixed in the part and prior to reclaiming it.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide an assembly that allowed for quenching of a molten material with a chill that was recoverable prior to completion of the part. Further, it would be advantageous to provide the assembly with a plurality of chills that are moveable to compensate for the shrinkage of the part during quenching and having a re-alignment mechanism to reposition the chills in a pre-chill position after quenching.